Guidelines for Effective Feedback

Effective feedback has these characteristics: timely, focused on learning goal, and connects student effort with the criteria for the assignment noting the result of that effort. Here are some general guidelines for written and oral feedback:


· Written feedback is more influential than oral working for the teacher often after the day of delivery.


· Written feedback provides opportunity for teacher construction time.


· Oral feedback to individuals is best when it is delivered in private, often during a transition.


· Oral feedback on collected and reviewed work—classwork /exit cards/homework--can heighten attention and focus, e.g. “Here are two things that most of you understand, but one area of concern is…Take a look at your papers as I pass them back and decide if this description applies to you.”


· Oral feedback to groups at the beginning of the lesson promotes connection between yesterday’s learning and how that supports today’s goal serving to remind students that their effort yesterday made a difference.


· In general, explaining your thinking regarding the level of learning has a positive effect. For example, if you decide to reteach because most of the class didn’t understand, announce that fact to the students so the purpose of the reteaching is clear and their need to focus attention and effort is heightened.



This summary includes the work of Hunter (1989), Guskey (2003), Fisher and Frey (2007) and Brookhart (2008).